Automobile identifying device



April 30, 1929. K vypoo 311,191

AUTOMOBILE IDENTIFYI G DEVICE Filed Oct. 3, 1927 Apr. 36, 1929,

STB-AUD K. WOOD, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

AUTOMOBILE IDENTIFYING DEVICE.

Application filed October 3, 1927. Serial No. 223,627.

This invention relates to motor car identifying devices more especially for holding and displaying license certificates of that class from which the licenseccrtilicate cannot be removed without mutilation which can be readily seen by casual glance, such mutilation indicating to the observer that the person in charge of the car should be required to show that heis legally entitled to the possession of such car, it being understood that the proper certificate or license on a car has its duplicate in the possession of the secretary of state or other authorized official of the State issuing the license, the duplicafe enabling proper oilicials to readily determine by comparison or otherwise, whether the car having the mutilated license or an unn'iutilated license, is in the possession of its legal or registered owner.

I have secured several patents from the United States Patent Office pertaining to this lass of invention, and my present object is to provide a more eflicient device than any of those which I have patented, especially as regards the retention of the certificates or license card against unauthorized removal without mutilation, as under the system of protection, a mutilated license ustilies arrest or investigation.

Yv ith this particular object primarily in view and also with the object of prividing a very simple and inexpensive construction, the invention consists in certain novel and useful features of construction and combinations of parts as hereinafter described and claimed; and in order that it may be fully I understood, reference is to be had to the ac companying drawing, in which: Figure 1 is a front view of the device. Figure 2 is a vertical section of the device n the line llll of Figure 1, but showing ie license certificate in edge view instead of in section tomake its relation to adjacent parts more readily apparent.

ure 3 is a vertical section on the line ljil Ill of Figure 2, with the license cardcarrying plate broken to disclose the inner face of the back member.

lligure 4-. is an enlarged fragmentary horizontal section of the device on the line IV of Figure 2.

' 1 1 ll ferring t the drawing in detail,

l in! dicates the back member and 2 the front member of a shallow rectangular metal holder, the front member having rcarwardly and inwardly-turned side flanges 3 to form grooves at the rear side of the member and having corresponding flanges 4 at its upper margin, the flanges 4 providing similar grooves but being spaced apart centrally to provide an opening 5 through which an ear 6 of the back membermay project when said member is slid upwardly into the grooves formed by flanges 3 and into the grooves formed by the top flanges .4 of the front member. The back member is providedat its lower end with a rearwardly offset ear 7 which dependsbeyond the plane of the lower ends of the members, and in conjunction with ear 6 provides means by which securing. bolts or the like may fasten the device to the dash (dotted) or other part of a motor car or the like; 7 The back member is also provided at an intermediate point or points with one or more rearwardly depressed portions 8 to afford upwardly-facing shoulders 9, the rearmost faces of said depressed portions preferably standing in the same vertical plane as the ear 7, and the ear- 6 when also offsetor bent rearwardly by the clamping pressure of its respective bolt brought to bear upon it in the fastening of the device to the dash. By having the ears and portion or portions 8 relatively arranged as explained, the device can be clamped flat against the dash or other part of the car so that the device shall be held dependably in place without any tendency to rock and therefore rattle with an undesirable noise when the car is in motion.

V'Vhen the two members are fitted together as explained and are bolted as also suggested to the dash of the car, there is provided be tween them a shallow compartment or chamber of considerable area because the front member is offset to provide a forwardly-pro- "'ectino' rectangular 3anel10 the central .or-

.l r: a. a

tion of the panel for the greater part of its area being removed. to provide a large window or sight opening 11..

A heavy or thick glass plate 19. provided as a transparent closure for the window open ing and nts snugly in the chamber of the paneledportion of the front member, being secured to said member at the point men tioned prior to the assemblage of said memher and the back member.

The back member opposite the upper part of the window opening is provided with a recessed per ion 13 within which is spot welded or otherwise secured a plate 14: equipped with a pair of spaced upwardly and forwardly sloping points or prongs 15 which serve as the means for multilating the license card or certificate, as hereinafter explained. A thin metal or equivalent plate 16 of size and form to fit for the greater part of its area in the chamber between the glass plate and the back member, is bent at its lower end to substantially U-shape to provide an upwardlyfacing recess 1'? to receive the lower edge or end of the back member and a similar recess 18 to receive the corresponding edge of the front member, the extremity of the bent pertion of said plate extending upward to form a holding and guard flange 19 spaced slightly from the body portion of said plate to lit between the lower end of the front member and the license certificate or card. 20, which, at its lower end, fits between the body of said plate 16 and said llai'ige 19. The upper end of the card is retained fiat against said plate by fitting between the body thereof and a forwardly and downwardly-turned flange 21, the latter also serving to insure downward movement of the license certificate or card when such movement is imparted to said plate 16.

The plate 16 to inhibit its accidental withdrawal, is provided with a downwardly and rearwardly-extending resilient spring tongue or tongues 22 for engagement with each of the shoulders 9, said tongue or tongues snapping into the recess or recesses 8 as the fori er respectively pass the shoulders 9, which shouleers it will be noted are sloping and hence provide for repression of the tongues to permit of the plate and license card or certificate being withdrawn when a properly applied force is brought to bear upon the plate, and to facilitate the application of such force the arms of the Ushaped portion provided at the lower end of the plate 16, are beaded at 23 to constitute grips or handles at opposite sides of the device for engagement by the fingers and thun'ib of one who desires to remove the plate and certificate.

The plate is provided at its upper end with a pair of slots 2% bridged at the front side of the plate by the card or certificate when inplace, and when the plate with the card or certificate is slipped into the holder constituted by the front and back members, the prongs 15 are repressed without mutilating or tearing the card or certificate because the angle at which the prongs or points stand is slight and also because the portions of the card or certificate which bridge the slots 2-r will project under the light pressure or said prongs or points, into shallow channels or recesses 25 formed in the back of the transparent plate. In the event however that the plate 16 is pulled downward, the points or prongs will impale the certificate and thus tear or mutilate it upwardly from points near the lower ends of slots 2% and channels 25, and in this connection it will be noted that because of the resistance to such sliding movement offered by the tongues and shoulders 9,which arehidden from the view of the operator,-the immediate result following the overcoming such resistance will be a quicker movement or jerk on the part of the plate and such damage to the card as will show that an attempt has been made to remove it even if the attempt at removal has been abandoned, it being obvious of course that if the entire removal occurs the mutilation of the card or certificate will extend for practically the full length of the slots The said tongues 22 on plate 16, in conjunction with the shoulders 9 of the back member not only function as explained but the tongues also serve to prevent a thin plate or the like icing forced up between the card-carrying plate and the back member for effecting the repression of the prongs to permit extraction of the *ardrarrying plate without cancellation of the card or license certificate.

It is desirable that the flange 19 siall be of such size or depth from top to bottom, that by the time its upper margin is brought down to the lower margin of the front member and thus give access below the latter to the card, the card-carrying plate has described sufficient movement to effect practically complete cancellation of the card by the prongs.

It has been stated that the beaded edges, forming grips or handles at the lower end of the card-carrying plate, enable said plate to be more readily and easily withdrawn from the holder. This is true of course when the holder is so mounted on a dash or other part of the car that the rear beaded edge is acccssible for engagement by ones fingers or thumb and when the holder is unmounted, as the depending ear is not in the way. l vhen the holder is so mounted on the dash that the rear bead is inaccessible for the purpose i.ndi cated, as it is shown in Figure 2 of the drawing, it will be more convenient in effecting the withdrawal of the card-carrying plate to slip the end of a small screw driver or other tool in the il-shaped bend of said plate to start the withdrawal movement, because if the plate is of very thin material, downward pressure on the front head or handle alone might not be suliicient to readily effect the withdrawal movement. Under ordinary conditions it will rarely be desirable to withdraw the card-carrying plate until the owner of the car is ready to replace the certificate with a new one, and at that time he can readily reniovc the fastening bolt engaging tl e bottom ear and then spring the holder outward lower ear, the certificate will be protected more efiiclently against a mlschievous boy orany maliciously inclined person from pulling the said plate downwardly and thus mutilating or destroying the certificate, which as hereinbefore suggested, might subject the owner of the car to considerable annoyance and trouble through the activity of policemen or others. The head of the bolt engaging the lower ear of the holder, by occupying the path of the plate, will thus serve as a guard against the Withdrawal of the latter and the consequent mutilation of the certificate except in'those instances where one takes the time and trouble to first remove the bolt.-

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that I have produced a simple and efiicient car identifying device whichmakes it im tilated certificate shall be sufficient evidence to justify investigation as to the legal ownership of the car equipped with such license card. The invention contemplates that the holder and glass plate shall indelibly bear the name of the license-issuing State, and that the license certificate shall be correspondingly identified, and for' the avoidance of un-' necessary expense to the motorist the holder and plate may be used as long as they remain in serviceable condition. If, however, State laws require each particular glass plate or holder or both to bear the serial number or date of a particular license certificate, it will of course necessitate replacement of such part or parts with each new license certificateissued. This would add to the expense but would enable an officer to more readily determine whether or not the car was operating under an expired license. The identifying matter referred to for use on the holder or glass plate appears in certain of my patents hereinbefore mentioned and is therefore not shown or claimed herein.

From the above description it Will be ap parent that I have produced a car-identifying device embodying the features of advantage set forth as desirable in the statement of the objects of the invention, and that it is susceptible of modification in minor partied lars without departing from the principle of construction or mode of operation involved or from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A car identifying device comprising a chambered holder having a front window opening, a transparent plate covering said opening, a plate fitting in the holder back of the transparent plate and slidable to and from operative position through one end of the holder and accessible at such end, said plate having a slot at the other end; a certificate carried by said plate and bridging said slot and readable through the glass plate, means for holding the slidable plate yieldingly interlocked with the holder, and a spring prong projecting angularly from the back of the holder and into the slot of said slidab'le plate to puncture and mutilate the certificate where it bridges said slot as withdrawal movement of the slidable plate occurs.

2. A car identifying device comprising a chambered holder having a front window opening, a transparent plate covering said opening, a. plate fitting in the holder back of the transparent plate and slidable to and from operative position through one end of the holder and accessible and provided with a flange at such end engaging the rear face of the glass plate and the front face of said certificate, saidplate having a slot at the opposite end from said flange; and a spring prong projecting angularly from'the back of the holder and into the slot of said slidable plate to puncture and mutilate the certificate where it bridges said slot as withdrawal movement of the slidable plate occurs.

3. A car identifying device comprising a chambered holder having a front window opening, a transparent plate covering said opening, a plate fitting in the holder back of the transparent plate and slidable to and from operative position through one end of the holder and accessible at such end, said plate having a slot at the other end, a certificate carried by said plate bridging said slot and readable through the glass plate, means for holding the slidableplate yieldingly interlocked with the holder, said slidable plate having a terminal flange spaced from the body of said plate and engaging the rear face of the glass plate and the front face of said certificate, said plate also being provided at its upper end with a flange overlapping the corresponding edge of the certificate, and a spring prong projecting angularly from the back of the holder and into the slot of said slidable plate to puncture and mutilate the certificate where it bridges said slot as withdrawal movement of the slidable plate occurs.

4. A car identifying device comprising a chambered holder having a front window opening, a transparent plate covering said opening and provided in its rear side with a channel extending downward from its upper Cir edge, a plate fitting in the holder back of the transparent plate and slidable to and from operative position through the lower end of the holder and provided in its upper end with a slot opposite the channel of the transparent plate, a certificate between said plates and bridging said slot and channel, means for holding the slidable plate yieldingly interlocked with the holder, and means projecting forwardly and upwardly into the slot of the slidable plate to puncture and mutilate the certificate as withdrawal movement of the slidable plate occurs.

5. A car identifying device comprising a chambered holder having a front window opening, a transparent plate covering said opening and provided in its rear side with a channel extending downward from its upper edge, a plate fitting in the holder back of the transparent plate and slidable to and from operative position through the lower end of the holder and provided in its upper end with a slot opposite the channel of the transparent plate and with. a forwardly and downwardly-turned flange at its upper end, a certificate between said plates and bridging said slot and channel, and overlapped at its upper end by said forwari'lly and downward ly-turned flange, means for holding the slidable plate yieldingly interlocked with the holder, and means projecting forwardly and upwardly into the slot of the slidable plate to puncture and mutilate the Certificate as withdrawal movement of the slidable plate occurs.

6. A car identifying device comprising a forwardly-paneled front member having a window opening in the paneled portion and provided at its upper end and side margins with rearwardly and inwardly-turned flanges, a back plate slidable into the flanges of the front member from too lower end of the latter and provided with an upwardly and rearwardlysloping shoulder, a plate fitting in the holder against the back plate and slidable to and from operative position through one end of the holder and provided with one or more downwardly an d rearwardly-inclined spring tongues for engagemelnt with said shoulder of the back plate and with a slot in its upper end substantially paralleling its side margins, a transparent plate fitting in the paneled portion of the front member, a certificato fitting snugly between said slidable and transparent plates and bridging the slot of the former, and means projecting upwardly and forwardly from the back plate into the slot of said slidable plate for puncturing and mutilating said certificate as withdrawal movement of the slidable plate from the holder occurs.

7. A car identifying device comprising a chambered holder having a front paneled member provided with a window opening and an opening at its upper end, and. a back holder and accessible at such end; said plate being provided at its lower end with upwardly pemng recesses respectively receiving the lower end of the back of the holder and the lower end of the front portion of the holder, a certificate fitting between said slid.- able plate and said transparent plate, and means engaging the certificate for puncturing and mutilating it as withdrawal movement of the slidable plate from the holder occurs.

8. A car identifying device comprising a chambered holder having a front paneled member provided with a window opening and an opening at its upper end, and a back member provided with an ear extending up through the said opening and a depending car, a transparent plate fitting in the panel of the holder, a plate fitting in the holder back of the transparent plate and slidable to and from. operative position through the lower end of the holder and accessible at such end; said plate being provided at its lower end with upwardly-opening recesses respectively receiving the lower end of the back of the holder and the lower end of the front portion of the holder, a certificate fitting between said slidable plate and said transparent plate, and means engaging the certificate for puncturing and mutilating it as withdrawal movement of the slidable plate from the holder occurs; said slidable plate and the back portion of the holder being yieldingly interlocked to prevent accidental withdrawal of the slidable plate from the holder.

9. In a car identifying device, a slidable plate of rectangular form provided in its upper end with one or more slots in substan tial parallelism with its side edges, and provided at an intermediate point with one or more downwardly and rearwardly-sloping spring tongues.

10. In a car identifying device, a rectangular plate provided at its upper end with one or more slots in substantial parallelism with. its side edges and at its upper extremity with a forwardly and downwardly-tnrned flange, and bent at its lower end to provide a U-shaped portion providing a pair of up wardly-opening recesses at its front and rear sides, the til-shaped portion terminating in an upwardly-extending flange disposed between the upwardly-opening recess at the front side of the plate and the body portion of the latter.

11. A car identifyingdevice comprising a chambered holder having a front window opening, transparent plate within holder and covering said opening and provided in its rear side with a channel extending downward from its upper edge, a plate fitting in the holder back of the transparent plate t and slidable to and from operative position between said plates and bridging said slot and channel, means for securing the slidable plate against accidental Withdrawal from the holder, and means Within the holder to puncture or mutilate the certificate upon Withdrawal of the slidable plate from the holder.

Instestimony whereof I affix my signature.

STRAUD K. WOOD. 

